The purpose of this conference will be to examine key scientific and strategic factors which will influence discovery and development of novel therapeutic agents in the new millennium. The program will be organized via three or four major themes: The first will address novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches emanating from genomic science advances, such as ribozymes, antisense and genetic vaccines, with emphasis on agents close to, or under, clinical evaluation. Secondly, the potential for our enhanced understanding of fundamentally important biological mechanisms such as apoptosis, signal transduction, gene transcription and tumor suppressor genes to provide new drug targets will be discussed in detail. Thirdly, technology advances which have recently made a significant impact on the pace of drug discovery and development will be examined via a series of case studies. Fourthly, we will examine a panel of chronic degenerative diseases which will be important targets for drug discovery in the new millennium. While the program is designed to reflect the interests of a broad range of scientists involved in pharmaceutical research, presentations will focus on recent scientific advances rather than overviews.